A Short Day of Life
by Rose Starre
Summary: Ever wonder what a normal work day is like for Holly Short? Well, look no further! This is a one-shot told by the female captain herself.


When I first open my eyes in the morning, I see the artificial sunlight and hear the tape recording of blue jays and robins. Sure, I'm still surrounded by more advanced technology than you humans could ever dream of, but it's not as nice as the liberty aboveground.

I'm a bit of an early bird, but as soon as the clocks hit 6:00, the "sun" is burning bright. Anyway, moving on…

I yawn, stretch, do other morning things, and stuff like that… I take a quick look in the mirror and see that my hair was all over the place, as usual. Not that I care or anything.

Eventually, I set off on the long trip through Haven to LEP headquarters. Police Plaza is normally crowded with rioters; and today is no exception. This time the rioting fairies are holding up signs flashing words to the effect of, "Bring animals to Haven".

I'm not totally against the idea, but the animals need freedom, and we're in short supply of that. I squeeze past the fairies and slip into the building. The Lower Elements Police building is less crowded than the plaza outside, but you still need to keep on your toes.

Trouble Kelp, the commander, opens the door to his office and bellows, "Short, get in here!" just like Julius used to. I sigh and walk into the room.

I'm not surprised that Foaly, the technical advisor, was standing there in front of a computer. "Captain," Trouble says, "There's a fairy on the loose and he's headed above. He's only a child, so you're going alone. However, still be careful."

"Yes sir. I understand, sir," I say.

Foaly turns to me and said, "I've taken the liberty of sending the young sprite's location to your helmet. Allow me to take you to your shuttle." Foaly and I leave the room together as we usually do.

He leads me to the shuttle launching bay and points out a retrieval shuttle. Apparently, this was too small a mission to send the entire Retrieval Squad. "There's the shuttle, here's the starter chip, now go get that little sprite!" Foaly says, handing me the chip.

I settle myself into the pilot's chair and slide the starter chip into the slot. A screen above the slot lights up and asks for the start-up code. I check the code and type it in. The shuttle's engine rumbles to life and propels the shuttle into tunnel E1, Tara.

There are no flares predicted until later, so I need to use the shuttle's own power. Besides, Foaly would've sent me in a pod if a flare was due. The sprite's location pops up on my helmet's visor. He was at the last shuttle bay before the tunnel's mouth.

I smoothly land the shuttle in the launching bay and swing it around to ready it for the ride back. The bay was unexpectedly empty and I was aware one word would carry across the whole shuttle bay and up and down E1 ten feet or so.

I have to risk one word, though. "Hello?" I call. I listen to my echo, but find no other response. "Hello?" I call again, and again there was no other word in the area.

Suddenly, I hear another voice, a small one, certainly belonging to the sprite. "Help," he calls weakly. I run full pelt toward the voice.

I stop at the door to the bay manager's office. The voice was coming from here, without a doubt. A hundred possibilities ran through my head concerning how the young sprite had gotten here. The worst of these possibilities was this: he'd been captured by Artemis Fowl and was being held hostage until I showed up.

Most likely though, he had been captured by someone less decent then Fowl. The sprite's cries are faint and he sounds exhausted. I risk a peek in the window. A goblin thug has the kid tied up and hurls fireballs at him randomly. Some miss, but most connect.

The poor child was beginning to give up hope. I couldn't let him suffer. I burst into the office and point my Neutrino 2000 at the goblin. "Put your hands up and surrender the child," I bark.

The goblin merely laughs and says, "This is all the LEP sends me? A little girl with a gun?"

I want to yell, "I'm not little!" I know, however, that this would only make the goblin laugh harder. Instead, I calmly say, "Hand over the child, and no one gets hurt."

"I don't think so…" the goblin murmurs. He throws a fireball at me and just barely misses. The fireball continues, only to hit the only shuttle in the bay, causing it to explode. My temper explodes with my one immediate hope of returning home.

I take my eyes from the flaming shuttle because, one: It brought too many bad memories, and two: I have more important things to worry about. Three blasts issue from the barrel of my Neutrino, slamming into the goblin. Unfortunately, this only makes him angrier.

He bellows, acting not unlike an angry demon. He runs at me, hurling fireballs at random. I can't do any fancy backflips like the people in the movies, so I did the next best thing: run for my life.

Then, I have an idea. As I pass a coiled rope used for pulling in troublesome shuttles, I snatch it and dash toward E1. The goblin follows, led by blind rage. I jump off the cliff, praying that the flare wasn't due now.

"Wings!" I cry. Thank goodness Foaly's equipment didn't decide to fail. The wings slide easily from their sheaths and begin holding me aloft. I can't say the same for the goblin, however. He continues to plummet downward, flapping his arms in a useless attempt to fly.

I somehow manage to catch him as he falls past. I bind him as I come upward to the shuttle bay. "You'll never get away with this!" the goblin hisses. "You'll be hearing from my lawyer!"

I roll my eyes. "I just saved your life. The 'thank you' I get is a talk with a lawyer?" I say, slightly angry. Criminals that have just been caught act like total jerks, if you ask me.

I land and immediately lock the goblin in a proper set of handcuffs. Then, after radioing Retrieval, I go to find the sprite. He is just where I'd left him, tied and burned. I undo the rope and heal his minor burns as well as a major burn on his left wing.

"How did the goblin find you?" I ask him.

"I wasn't paying too much attention to anyone around me; and he grabbed me and headed upward. He was using me as bait for an LEP officer," the sprite murmurs.

Retrieval had just arrived and was landing their shuttle nearby. To my great surprise, Trouble is with them. He looks at the flaming shuttle I had arrived in, then at me. "We're going to have to talk about that later," he calls.

I shift uncomfortably, knowing I was in for a lecture. "What's the matter?" the sprite asks me.

"My commander is here and I wasn't expecting him to come. I'm just a bit nervous," I explain.

The sprite squeezes my hand. "There's no reason to be scared. He's your friend, right?" he asks, trying to reassure me.

_Not when he's giving a speech, _I think. I smile despite my grim thought and say, "I guess you're right."

As the goblin was being taken into the retrieval shuttle, I walk over and tap an officer on the shoulder. The officer jumps and yells, "Who's there?"

"It's just me, Holly. Remember?" I tell him.

The officer settles down and says, "What is it?"

"In case you haven't noticed," I explain, "My shuttle has exploded and I need a little help getting back to base."

The officer agrees, looking nervously at the still-flaming shuttle. Then, the officer walks off mumbling something about how I always seem to get the exciting jobs.

I almost jump a mile when Trouble taps my shoulder. The sprite giggles while I look around wildly, trying to figure out what had touched me. "Relax," Trouble says, stepping into my line of view. "It's just me."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Oh," I say, embarrassed.

"Let's get that sprite home. His mother's worried sick," Trouble tells me.

Everyone piles into the shuttle. Several officers indulge in conversation, leaving me alone with Trouble and the sprite.

As I had feared, Trouble lectures me about shuttle safety and the shuttle shortage. "We are especially low on Retrieval shuttles. I never should have trusted you with that shuttle!" he yells.

Trouble goes on and on, ranting about how I always manage to blow _something_ up. I didn't even get to throw my input on the situation out there.

After what seemed to me like hours, we finally arrive in Haven. Foaly welcomes the team and takes me aside. "What happened to the shuttle?" he asks.

"Oh, the goblin that had captured the sprite blew it up," I explain.

Foaly grunts in frustration. "I guess that means I need to make another batch of Retrieval shuttles," he complains.

I ignore Foaly's outburst about how much the shuttles are going to cost him. The sprite had found his mother and calls for her. She shrieks in her excitement and runs to her child. I watch as the reunited family embraces. This scene makes me miss my own mother.

The rest of the day isn't interesting enough to recall here. There is one thing, however. The sprite's mother actually called to thank me for safely returning her child.

I'm still convinced the mother called LEP headquarters first and asked for my number specifically. How else could she have called me at home? Anyway, she said she couldn't thank me enough for her son's safe return. I told her one 'thank you' was enough.

_The End_

_I sure hope you liked it. This is one of my first attempts writing in the present tense. I'm actually happy with the results. Don't be afraid to tell me what you think. Feedback is always appreciated._

_Thank you and good night (or whatever time it happens to be)!_


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